


The Man-Eating Portrait

by ThatScottishShipper



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Artists, Cannibalism, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Horror, M/M, Painting, Trick or Treat: Trick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 15:34:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatScottishShipper/pseuds/ThatScottishShipper
Summary: After being subject to mass criticism and negativity, Yusuke creates a painting that reflects his dark experiences. He calls it Consumption.Then people start disappearing...





	The Man-Eating Portrait

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foxjar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxjar/gifts).

Akira  _ liked _ it.

As humbled as he was by his boyfriend admiring his newest work of art, Yusuke still felt unsettled by his own work. An eerie feeling akin to an unseen presence walking over his unmarked grave.

Standing before his latest declaration upon a canvas, the young artist struggled to reclaim that earlier sense of therapeutic liberation from his creation. It came from a dark place, following months of being subject to criticism and expectations on his craft.

The online masses, a crusade, hungrily devouring his art while tearing him down, making demands of him. Society felt like monsters with bottomless pits for stomachs, always consuming, never contributing. They eat, then progress to the next thing.

That was the heart of  _ Consumption _ , his latest masterpiece, framed upon an exhibit wall.

Yusuke remembered the frenzied attack upon a once white canvas, slices and swirls of angry red and gluttonous orange in dizzying formations. Captured within the heart of delirium was a creature barely resembling a human, contorted by selfishness and hatred.

Large glassy eyes, resembling blank screens, conveyed a dreaded unease to those gazing upon it. Protruding from a menacing smile, cracked from ear to ear and between sharp dagger like teeth, was a long lashing tongue, dripping with purple venom.

Yes, Yusuke thought. The venom was very apt.

Lastly, a bloated stomach hanging obscenely, a testament to the creature’s bottomless greed and self-satisfaction, but the monster wasn’t full yet.

As time proceeded, Yusuke began to hate it, fearing the raw, negative place this artwork born from. As an artist, his deepest worry was that - in a twist of irony - he had become the very thing he hated.

A monster, stuffing itself with bitter anger.

Fist clenched, beneath the gross glare of his own creation, Yusuke trembled, but was soothed by a hand upon his shoulder.

Akira reminded him that negative feelings were still important to acknowledge rather than bottling them up. That meant a lot to Yusuke.

They left together to get coffee, leaving the first day exhibition nerves for tomorrow.

But that was not the end of Yusuke’s anxiety.

The first sign that something was wrong came the very next day.

Perceptive to changes in his environment, Yusuke became aware immediately of how cold white the walls had become. The lack of colour only enhanced the striking clash of colours from the paintings in the halls, and he pondered if this last minute decision was an artistic choice.

Especially since  _ Consumption _ screamed from the wall.

The absence of tin cans, and the dizzying scent of pain, left little food for thought inside his mind, and he left.

The second day changed everything.

Along with the bleached white walls, every painting that once posed proudly was gone.

All except  _ Consumption _ .

Yusuke sensed the suspicion and disapproval swallowing the exhibition, the hardened glares of overworked artists accusing him of their intimate loss. His own fretful eyes foresaw the endless walls of the internet world, thrusting further harassment his way.

After all,  _ his _ painting was accounted for.

As the newly appointed night guard took his place for the night shift, Akira once more accompanied his boyfriend home, doing everything he could to divert attention away from the social media storm brewing.

Away from the world, Akira held Yusuke close, reminding him with gentle touches and soft words exactly how much he was appreciated.

His relief did not last long.

The third day chilled Yusuke to the bone.

For a horrifying moment, he swore his Painting bled, a sickening stream of rustic red cascading down the wall. His second thought was vandalism, that a disgruntled artist had finally taken their revenge on the last remaining painting.

Then, upon closer inspection, Yusuke realised his first instinct was right.

His Painting ran red with  _ blood _ , and the Guard was nowhere to be seen...

Except, to Yusuke's horror, a blood stained officer's hat among the crimson waterfall.

xxx

Every morning, disappearances were reported all over the city. Family, friends and loved ones grieved for the lack of closure twined with the missing ones.

Their last reported sightings? The District outside the art exhibit.

Yusuke knew within his heart that he gave birth to a Monster, his own darkened heart anchoring that creature to the real world.

The situation was already spiraling out of control, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Akira investigated then came face to face with Yusuke’s creation, his monster. He couldn’t let the sort of things he had nightmares about become a reality.

In the dead of night, Yusuke snuck into the exhibit, determined to cleanse his stain on the world…

He was not alone.

Before his very eyes, his very Painting came alive, erupting from the canvas into the chillingly desolate art exhibit. Smearing stained hand prints wherever it clambered,  _ Consumption _ was true to its name, protruding tongue lashing against every conceivable surface for anything to claim as its own.

That glassy stare - born from Yusuke’s despair of online crusades - reflected upon something in the corner, trapped. His entire world came to a halt when he realised what the creature was so fixated on.

Akira, panting harshly, clutching a wounded arm.

Slapping those enlarged hands onto the floor,  _ Consumption _ bent down, preparing to strike, a movement that spurred Yusuke himself into action.

His paintbrush slapped the closest thing he had to a canvas, desperately creating the only thing that saved him when it felt like the world despised him.

The wall itself came to life with cobalt blue, forming into a two tailed fox. Every positive emotion infused into the creature, channeled into the swift work of art, then with the last strike of his hand, the wall warped, and inspiration broke free.

The giant fox leapt between Akira and the Monster, giving Yusuke time to reach him. He had never been more relieved to hold his boyfriend than he did in that moment.

Holding onto the injured teenager, Yusuke watched as the two elements of his own creation faced each other down, then attacked.

Protected by the movement of those shimmering tails, Yusuke knew that this Fox was a Guardian, a part of his own self brought into being to protect himself… and his Akira.

While  _ Consumption _ thrashed against the Fox, regurgitating paint like fluid all over the walls and floors, the Fox attacked with sharp claws, and - from what Yusuke perceived - it’s own body, attempting to absorb the other Monster into itself.

Holding each other, Akira and Yusuke could only watch, waiting to see which Spirit of Art reigned victorious, and if their lives were theirs to keep that night...

**Author's Note:**

> My very first Persona 5 story for Trick or Treat Exchange, a Trick fill for the prompt, Man-Eating Art.
> 
> Honestly, like art to Yusuke, this prompt really resonated to me with its potential for a creepy, horrifying story. I tried to imagine Yusuke's state of mind when painting something that would take a life of its own, and eventually eat anyone close to it. Negative online experiences really shaped Consumption with the twist for an artist that gives so much, but is taken advantage of, having their work consumed even when insulted and belittled.
> 
> While the title - The Man-Eating Portrait - leaves little to the imagination, I like the appeal, like it's a title one might imagine from a horror short, which this is.
> 
> The cliffhanger was another last minute addition, giving a sense of unease. It lets the readers asks themselves which Inspiration would reign victorious - one from negative and "bad" emotions, or one from positive and "good" emotions?
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. <3


End file.
